1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of information handling systems and more particularly to keyboards for use with ultra mobile type information handling systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Portable information handling systems and in particular ultra mobile information handling systems (also known as subnotebook information handling systems) have made considerable gains in both popularity and technical sophistication. Portable, battery-powered information handling systems have become increasingly popular over the last several years due to their light weight and small size that permit them to be easily hand-carried in an ordinary briefcase and used by business travelers in cramped spaces, such as on airline seat back trays, lacking electrical plug-in facilities. One factor contributing to the increasing popularity of the notebook information handling system is its ever-decreasing size and weight, a factor arising from the ability to fabricate various components of the information handling system in smaller and smaller sizes while, in many cases, increasing the operating speed and decreasing the power utilization requirements of such components. For purposes of this discussion, “portable” and “notebook” are synonymous terms.
A portable information handling system typically incorporates both hard and floppy disk drives, a monitor screen built into its lid portion, and a keyboard built into its main body portion. It is thus a fully self-contained information handling system able to be used in situations and locations in which the use of a much larger desktop information handling system is simply not feasible. While portable information handling systems were at one time often employed as an adjunct to a primary desktop information handling system, the increased power of such information handling systems has allowed them to become many users' primary information handling systems.
One issue in the design of notebook information handling systems, however, is the keyboard structure. This design challenge has, to this point, arisen from two conflicting design goals: a desire to reduce the size of the keyboard structure and a desirability of having the notebook information handling system emulate as closely as possible the size and typing feel of a desktop type information handling system keyboard. The size of the typical human hand is an example of a driving force behind the latter of the two requirements, substantially limiting the amount of miniaturization that can be wrought.
For example, referring to FIG. 1, labeled prior art, a known keyboard layout is shown. This keyboard layout includes dedicated function keys as well as actuatable function keys which are actuated by pressing the key in combination with the Function (Fn) keys. The dedicated function keys often generate a fixed, single byte code, usually outside of a normal ASCII range, which is translated into some other configurable sequence by a keyboard device driver or interpreted directly by an application program. The dedicated function keys include respective “F-number” designations (e.g., F1). The actuatable function keys are accessed by a combination of pressing a function access key (Fn) simultaneous with pressing of an actuable function key (often indicated at Fn+F#). For example, the action of Fn+F8 may activate a volume decrease function.
The keyboard also includes a keyboard control which enables accessing BIOS and boot menus via the dedicated function keys during boot up of the system.